CHERYL
In this next story Paula meets up with an old school friend and accompanies her to a reunion where she bumps into Cheryl. Like Paula, her marriage is also on the rocks but she's not willing to end it just yet, she's not into women but seems intrigued by Paula's impromptu confession that she's been having affairs with women.
Author's note: A working girl in Australia is a slang term for a sex worker. Don't ask me why we used that term but it's become part of the Australian cultural landscape.
Teenage crushes are the stuff of legend and I could go on forever with examples from popular fiction and movies, most of which are too insipid and cheesy to take seriously. Most of them end with the happy ever after scenario, which always strikes me as being a little odd. As a teenager you're experiencing rapid growth spurts and I'm not just talking about the physical, the emotional and mental aspects are also growing. I remember guys I thought were absolute dream boats but when you meet them later in life, sometimes only a few years later you thank your lucky stars that you never went out with them.
However there was one girl I did have a crush on although at the time I didn't associate it with anything sexual because everyone loved Cheryl. She was the child of a mixed marriage, her father was English but his parents were born in Jamaica. Her mother was white and her parents had come down from the north to live in Hammersmith. Cheryl was only fourteen when her family emigrated to Australia. Her mother had a job offer as a teacher at a high school and Cheryl's father was an electrical engineer for some big company.
Like many children from mixed race marriages, Cheryl had inherited the best of both worlds. She had her father's dark complexion although it was lighter than his. She had her mother's dark brown hair and eyes, and her longish face. She'd inherited her father's height and inquisitive nature and from her mother she'd copied her dress sense. Cheryl could turn up to school in the same uniform as us but it looked better on her. As a result she became the subject of many crushes, guys flirted with her and the girls either wanted to be like her or with her. I fell into the first category but now and then I'd find myself drifting into the latter one. Cheryl seemed to ride the shifting tides at school with ease, she'd lived most of her life in another country and as a result her outlook on life was much more open-minded.
Fast forward a decade or so and Cheryl had drifted into the far recesses of my mind. I thought about her whenever I heard Bonnie Tyler's
Holding Out For a Hero
because it was one of the songs she danced to at school discos. However apart from those rare occasions I never thought about her until I bumped into Tina, an old friend from high school. I'd dropped into a Coles New World near mum and dad's place and she recognised me at the checkout when she turned around to pick up her bags. There was a moment of hesitation before I remembered her name and then Cheryl's face rose in my mind's eye. We got talking and it was like the years just fell away. Tina had divorced and was now living with a guy she met at a high school reunion.
"But Gary wasn't actually at our school, he was one of the bouncers at the club," she explained, "he's a Maori but most of his family live here."
One thing led to another and she eventually invited me to another high school reunion and at first I was hesitant. I'd been to one of them just after I got married and have vague memories of being helped into a taxi and throwing up over the seat.
"Been there, done that," she smiled, "but I've been to a few over the last five years, last year we were at the Knox Club but this year the school has stepped in to give us the gym for a night. Fifteen dollars gets you a ticket for the meal and it's half price drinks if you turn up in fancy dress. Some of us are going to go in school uniform but I can't see me fitting into my old uniform."
It was the mention of school uniform that did it, I still had Adele firmly locked into my mind and so I agreed to go along. Babysitting duties would be delegated to my parents, which meant I could stay at their place for the night.
The night of the reunion I felt a slight anxiety, this was the first time I'd seen my old friends for years and like most of us I too was feeling the ravages of time. I did dress the part though, a white blouse, black leather trousers and a black tie.
"You'll be turning heads on both side of the aisle," Tina flicked at her hair, "oh, by the way, Cheryl is turning up as well."
"Cheryl? As in Pommy Cheryl?"
"The one and lonely," she grinned, "we've been trying to get her to turn up for years but she's always refused or been too busy."
"This should be interesting," I adjusted my tie, "is this fancy dress or not?"
"Yeah, that's fancy enough," she stared at my pants, "you can be that eighties rock chick."
"Ha ha," I rolled my eyes.
However Tina was right. I did turn heads when we walked into the gym. For a few moments I was right back in my teens when a trip to the gym usually meant being humiliated by Ms Hunt who used to make us wear our sports uniform inside out if we didn't make the grade. And then I found myself looking straight at Cheryl.
Age isn't generous to women but somehow it seemed to have passed Cheryl by and focused on her husband Sam instead. I'd seen him once before at that first reunion and back then I thought he could have passed for a young Elvis Presley. He had the dark smouldering looks and black hair but years down the track he looked like Danny De Vito. She on the other hand looked as if she'd just stepped off the set of a makeover special. Her hair was thicker and longer and she was wearing a red dress with wide straps and a flared skirt. She was talking to a couple of women and then one of them turned to talk to someone else and Cheryl and I were looking straight at each other.
They say there's a thing about love at first sight and I can attest to that because I felt like I was frozen to the spot and then someone nudged her and the spell was broken but as Tina and I made our way to a table I looked over my shoulder to find her looking at me as well.
"So, what's her story?" I asked Tina a few minutes later.
"She works in finance at Westpac in the city," she told me, "Cheryl earns more money in a quarter than I see in a year."
"And what about Sam? Is it love or money?"
"Now there's a mystery," she smiled crookedly, "Sam did have money until he blew it all on the stock market, now he's got one of those Red Rooster franchises. She could have her pick of men but she's still with him."
"Well you can't judge a book by its cover."
Just at that moment I saw her pull Sam to one side and by the look on her face he must have said something to upset her or somebody else because he couldn't look her in the eye. We were too far away to hear the conversation but a minute or so later she whirled about and stalked to the bar, he just stood there looking like a stunned mullet. When she collected her drink Cheryl leaned against the bar as she surveyed the crowd and then she homed in on me. I raised my glass in salute and was rewarded with a half salute and then she pushed away from the bar and sauntered towards us.
"G'day," she came to a halt at our table, "Tina, right? And you're," she looked past me for a few moments before I spoke up.
"Paula, it's been years since I've been to one of these."
"I thought I recognised you," she gave me the once over, "nice outfit, are you our rock chick?"
"Something like that," I ran an eye over her dress, "and you're the woman in red."
"Yeah, it's original I know," she sat down, "this seat taken?"
"Not yet," I replied, "will your husband be joining us?"
